The mythical rivalry should be with Beethoven, not Mozart!
True tidbits:
* Beethoven actually referred to Salieri as his "most active opponent" (Solomon's translation)
* Salieri criticized Beethoven's opera Fidelio (as did a lot of other composers of the time)
* Salieri didn't like Beethoven's late works. And apparently he critiqued them so hard that he even caused Schubert, another of his students, to not like Beethoven's music for a short time.
Armed just with that I could probably work slowly but surely over time to turn all of HN full Q-anon on a Salieri vs. Beethoven conspiracy. But I'll be good and vaccinate everyone here-- Beethoven also had a difficult relationship with his other famous teacher Joseph Haydn. He was quite a moody guy! And Salieri was a good sport-- he even sat in to play drums on Wellington's Victory. So in reality it's just good clean musical friends having some fun.
Edit: I don't find evidence in the wiki of hostile reception, excepting this:
"The concert provoked the ire of fellow composer Antonio Salieri, who had been Beethoven's teacher. Also on 22 December, Salieri organized his annual concert to benefit widows and orphans, and he threatened to ban any Tonkünstler-Societät musicians who had played in Beethoven's concert instead of his own. However, soon after the relationship between the two composers improved."
The mythical rivalry should be with Beethoven, not Mozart!
True tidbits:
* Beethoven actually referred to Salieri as his "most active opponent" (Solomon's translation)
* Salieri criticized Beethoven's opera Fidelio (as did a lot of other composers of the time)
* Salieri didn't like Beethoven's late works. And apparently he critiqued them so hard that he even caused Schubert, another of his students, to not like Beethoven's music for a short time.
Armed just with that I could probably work slowly but surely over time to turn all of HN full Q-anon on a Salieri vs. Beethoven conspiracy. But I'll be good and vaccinate everyone here-- Beethoven also had a difficult relationship with his other famous teacher Joseph Haydn. He was quite a moody guy! And Salieri was a good sport-- he even sat in to play drums on Wellington's Victory. So in reality it's just good clean musical friends having some fun.